This Best-Selling South African Homewares Brand is Officially Available through Crate & Barrel
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The best-selling handwoven homewares brand Mo's Crib is officially available directly to U.S. customers through Crate & Barrel. If you've been watching from afar, the multi-functional beauty of Mo's Crib's products can be found in five-star resorts and top department stores, artfully displaying everything from plants to towels. Founded in 2016 by the South African entrepreneurial sister duo Mo and Michelle Mokone, this brand is sustainable, innovative, and fully supports its team of female artisans with fair wages.
Black-owned and women-led, Mo’s Crib believes the impact in their communities and hometown of Pretoria is due to the intentional steps they've made to serve in and outside of the homes of their skillful team with compensation through housing, hot meals, transportation, in-depth medical support, English lessons, and weekly financial management courses. "We are committed to providing opportunities to women so that they can then build opportunities for themselves," says the duo. It's a healthy cycle that brings waves of news jobs while upholding preserving the talent of existing South African artisans and offering new learning experiences.
Their PVC Collection includes versatile baskets and planters woven using reclaimed PVC water pipes. "Cleaning up our landfills isn't glamorous work, but we're turning trash into treasure with every design and simultaneously raising awareness about the importance of eco-friendly manufacturing—from the PVC range to our responsibly-sourced natural grasses," the founders explain.
To help reduce plastic pollution (PVC is the third most-produced in the world), each pipe was carefully handpicked one by one and collected from landfills and constructions sites. The reclaimed PVC strips are then taken through a four to eight-hour handweaving process to create an elegant basket that's soft-to-touch and durable.
According to the Makone sisters, their designs are largely inspired by African culture and nature. "Art in South Africa is influenced by natural materials, colors, and traditional crafts like weaving. Our designs definitely reflect that—they're diverse and eclectic, with many uses of natural and recycled materials. We have a consistent aesthetic, but every basket is different!"
Retailing for $119, Mo's Crib's woven baskets are available for purchase today, with a choice of black or natural tan. These spectacular baskets are five times as durable as a classically woven basket, washable, and bug-resistant! If you're looking for new ways to store your weighted blanket or a new vase for your plant–the options are endless without bending the structure of the basket.
With items such as tall hampers with lids, baskets deep enough for saving wood, charger plates, and more, Mo's Crib is a welcome addition to your lifestyle. The impact and rich history of South Africa is beautifully woven through each item. "South Africa is a country that carries massive collective trauma, and one guiding ideal that we live by as a nation is “Ubuntu”, a word that encourages compassion and the spirit of connectedness. Our values as leaders are very much influenced by Ubuntu - we see our employees, our customers, and the environment in which we operate as an interconnected unit that drives the overall success of our vision," says Mokone.
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